Andrea and her two best friends have shed their nurses scrubs for a long-awaited weekend in Las Vegas, and nothing—flight delays, lost luggage, or the slightly weird guy with the sketchy invite to an exclusive bash—is going to stop their fun.

Within minutes of arriving at the opulent party, she’s deep in conversation with gorgeous, funny Luke Nelson, wide receiver for the Seattle Seahawks. For some crazy reason, he can’t seem to keep his eyes—or hands—off her.

Luke isn’t looking for a hookup, he just wants to relax…until he gets one look at the classy brunette in the barely-there dress. One minute they’re talking, the next they’re all over each other in a dark corner. It’s like he’s an addict and she’s the fix he’s been searching for all his life.

One night of hot sex isn’t nearly enough. But after a weekend spent never more than a few inches apart, the time is quickly approaching when they’ll have to make a long-distance relationship work—or break it off.

“Andrea.”

She whirled around…and there he was. Tall. Broad. Casually dressed in a navy blue T-shirt and jeans, a smile on his face, his dark eyes sparkling. Oh, he looked amazing. She could hardly believe he was standing there in front of her.

“Hi.” She hiked her purse strap over her shoulder, clinging to it like a lifeline. What should she do? What should she say? Did she have permission to throw herself at him like a lovesick girlfriend or was she supposed to act cool and composed?

“Come here.” He grabbed hold of her arm and pulled her into him, giving her a lingering kiss. Then another one. His lips were warm and damp and when he pulled away, releasing her slowly, he looked about as dazed as she felt. “We need to get the fuck out of here, and quick. You have luggage to pick up?”

She shook her head, stepping aside to display her suitcase. “This is all I brought.” Why did they need to leave so quickly? She didn’t understand.

His smile grew and he rubbed his hand along the back of his neck. “Then let’s go.”

Luke took her suitcase for her despite her protests, grabbing her hand with his free one as he escorted her out of the airport. He kept his head slightly bent, as if he didn’t want people to recognize him, and she followed his lead, glancing around as discreetly as possible to see if anyone recognized him.

If they did, they gave him his privacy, and she was thankful for it. He seemed extra determined to leave unnoticed, practically dragging her outside toward a giant parking structure. They took an elevator up five floors, the interior of it freezing cold, and he slung his arm around her shoulder and held her close, his mouth at her forehead as he whispered to her.

“I missed you.”

She rested her hand on his stomach, noting the way the muscles tensed up at her light touch. “I missed you too,” she admitted. Damn it. She’d promised herself she wouldn’t make any sort of confession like that and there she went, not even five minutes into the visit.

“You hungry?”

“No.”

“Thirsty?” He pulled away from her when the elevator came to a stop, his hand falling to her lower back as he escorted her out into the garage.

“Um, no.” What was up with the weird questions?

“Good. We’ll go straight to my place then.” The look he shot her was full of heat, his gaze running over her quickly, and she shivered as if he’d actually touched her. “You are a sight for sore eyes, I hope you know.”

That saying had never made much sense to her, but that didn’t matter at the moment because he’d missed her. Looked at her as if he wanted to gobble her up, which she was a big fan of because the man had a very talented mouth. And hands.

Hands that could catch footballs, sure, but they were also magic hands that had her trembling and falling apart rather quickly…

“Here’s my truck.” He stopped at a gleaming brand-new blue Toyota pickup and unlocked the doors with a keyless remote, going to the passenger side to open the door for her. She hopped into the truck with his assistance, turning to look at him and say thank you, but he cut her off with his lips, kissing her so fiercely she had no choice but to lean back against the seat.

She grabbed hold of the back of his neck, her mouth opening to his, letting his tongue slide inside. A groan escaped her and she tunneled her fingers into his soft hair, gasping when his big warm hand maneuvered beneath her shirt and settled on her stomach.

“We keep this up, I’ll be fucking you in the parking garage—I don’t give a damn who sees us,” he said when he finally tore his lips from hers.

Exhaling a shuddery breath, she released her hold on him. That sounded perfect, which was totally crazy. She couldn’t allow him to do any such thing to her in a public parking garage. “Take me to your place,” she murmured, making him smile.

“Will do, baby.” He shut the door and rounded the back of the truck, opening his door so he could slip her suitcase on the bench seat behind them before he hopped into the driver’s seat. “I can’t believe you’re here.”

She smiled. “I can’t believe it either.”

“I’m glad, though.” His deep voice washed over her, making her shiver, and she watched as he settled his big hand on her knee and gave it a squeeze. “Fucking ecstatic, if you want me to be honest.”

Between nursing school and starting their careers, Reagan, Andrea, and Natalie have had no time for dating. After saving up for a special vacation, they’re on their way to Vegas for a long-awaited weekend of fun, sun, gambling and partying.

When their luggage goes missing, an impromptu shopping trip leads them to James, who makes them an unusual offer—to be part of the female scenery at his boss’s upcoming party. Not just any scenery, but women who are pretty in a real way, not the nipped, tucked and dyed Hollywood version.

Accept a “private party” invitation from a complete stranger? These ladies weren’t born yesterday. Yet before “no thanks” crosses their lips, Reagan discovers who James’s boss really is: Declan Carter, an actor she’s crushed on for, well, forever. Now she’s determined to be the eye candy who catches Declan’s eye. No matter what it takes…

Reagan can’t believe her luck—and not in a good way. One minute she’s hanging out with her friends at an exclusive party in Las Vegas. The next, she’s attracted the attention of a famous actor. Not just any actor. Declan Carter, the man on which she used to—okay, might still—have a fangirl crush. Whose blue eyes leave her embarrassingly tongue tied.

All Declan wants is to meet a nice, normal woman who won’t use him as a stepping stone to fame. Something about Reagan tells him she could be that rare woman, and he follows his instinct to invite her back to his suite—where they proceed to have wild monkey sex. All. Night. Long.

What was supposed to be one night of no-regrets sex stretches out into a blissful weekend of two people who can’t get enough of each other. But when the glamour of Sin City wears off, they’re standing on the edge of a once-in-a-lifetime chance to turn a weekend fling into something lasting. Will they take the jump?

USA Today bestselling author Karen Erickson writes what she loves to read – sexy contemporary romance. Published since 2006, she’s a native Californian who lives in the foothills below Yosemite with her husband and three children.

Home for the summer between college and med school, Pearl Torres Frank knows two things: Boyce Wynn is the embodiment of everything she should run from, and everything she wants to run to. Rebellious and loud. Unconcerned with society’s opinion of him. Passionate. Strong. Dangerous.

And one more trait he hides from everyone but her: Sweet.

Boyce watched me, a lit cigarette in one hand and a koozied
beer in the other. We hadn’t spoken since that kiss, other than his usual juvenile
quips during biology—the ones that drove Mel and Mr. Quinn insane and made
Landon smirk and shake his head and had me biting the inside of my cheek to
suppress my smile.

At first, I’d been confused, then disappointed, and then
angry. I’d worked my way to acceptance, like when I’d known I was drowning and
there was nothing I could do. He’d merely gone back to being Boyce Wynn, who
did what he wanted and who he wanted. And I’d gone back to being Pearl
Frank—star student, social royalty, good girl.

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of EASY and BREAKABLE (Contours of the Heart series – NA), as well BETWEEN THE LINES, WHERE YOU ARE, GOOD FOR YOU and HERE WITHOUT YOU (Between the Lines series – YA/NA).

I’m a hopeful romantic who adores novels with happy endings, because there are enough sad endings in real life. Before writing full-time, I was an undergraduate academic advisor, economics tutor, planetarium office manager, radiology call center rep, and the palest person to ever work at a tanning salon. I married my high school sweetheart, and I’m Mom to three adult kids and four very immature cats.

We’re celebrating the release of SPEND THE NIGHT, Episode 2 by Elizabeth Lee! Check out the excerpt and giveaway below!

Spend the Night: The Hotel Collection by Elizabeth Lee.
Episode #2

Adult Contemporary Romance/Suspense

SYNOPSIS

Someone’s playing a deadly game…Two men vying for your attention—seems like every girl’s dream come true. For Hannah Wellesley, the dream has become a nightmare. As she continues to navigate her feelings to determine which man she truly belongs with—the first love who’s become her current business rival or the enticing new chef who’s testing her sexual limits at every turn—a new set of problems presents itself. One that includes a breach in hotel security that has her fearing for her own safety and the reputation of the Wellesley-Crawford.

Soon she finds herself playing a dangerous game of cat and mouse that might just cost her everything she’s worked for—and maybe even her life.

Yes.

I was finally going to find out if it was him. I knew it was. It had to be. Everything that had happened with Trent had been a mistake. Carter was the guy I wanted. He was going to take the memories of Trent away.

“Baby…” Carter mumbled against my lips, before removing them and pressing his forehead against mine. “We gotta slow down.”

“No,” I urged. “We really don’t.” I pulled his lips back to mine. “I want this. I want you,” I pleaded, hearing the desperation in my voice. I needed to know the truth.

“So do I,” he assured me before taking a step back. He grabbed my hands and caught his breath. “Really I do, but I think we should slow down. I don’t want you to do something you’d regret.”

“Never stopped me before,” I said with a playful wink. I hadn’t let fear or regret stop me in the stairwell. Or in my apartment last night which would have been a good damn time for it to do so.

“Oh, really.” He chuckled.

“Really.” I stared up into his eyes waiting for him to just admit that it was him the night of the Gala, but he didn’t. Instead, he pulled me to my feet and wrapped his arms around my waist. His head fell to my shoulder as he tightened his embrace. “This will happen, Hannah. Just not in my office with the entire staff of my restaurant waiting on the other side of the door. I’ll teach you to be patient, sweetheart,” he whispered.

Hannah Wellesley has spent her entire life running the halls of her family-owned hotel, the infamous and opulent Wellesley-Crawford. Noted as one of the city’s richest, most luxurious hotels in Chicago, the WC is what Hannah has devoted her life and career to.The hotel’s Annual Masquerade Gala is the event of the year, but this year Hannah’s evening involves more than just handing out masks. After a mysterious rendezvous in a secluded stairwell with an irresistible and unidentifiable man, Hannah becomes consumed with discovering the identity of her masked lover. Just as she’s about to give up the search, two men blow back into her life with drastically different intentions. They both have secrets and uncovering them will lead Hannah down a darkly dangerous path.

Drawn to both of the intriguing bachelors, she’ll have to determine which one is after her heart and which one plans to do her deadly harm before it’s too late.

THE SERIES CONTINUES!

Spend the Night – Episode 3

All games must eventually come to an end…

Hannah’s new reality is that someone is stalking her. Aggressively. The only question now is who. Fingers are pointed and accusations are made as every clue leads to her down another twisted path of questions without answers. Her feelings for both Carter and Trent cloud her judgment as the investigation delves deeper into her personal life and into her heart. Carter’s past is a mystery and Trent has every reason to try and make her seem crazy. Her loss would be his gain after all.

Hannah will have to choose, but making the wrong choice will cost much more than a broken heart.

Everyone has a motive.

But only one of them has a plan.

Expect the unexpected in the thrilling conclusion to the Spend the Night series.

Born and raised in the middle of a Midwestern cornfield (not literally, that would be weird), I’ve spent my entire life imagining stories. Stories where the right guy always gets the right girl, first kisses are as magical as they are on the big screen and anything is completely possible if you believe.

Although this journey began years ago, it recently took on a whole new life. After years of devouring hundreds of Romance, YA and New Adult novels, I had an epiphany… I should write a book. And I did it!

If I’m not reading, writing, enjoying drinks with my amazing group of girlfriends or chasing around a sarcastically funny kid, I’m probably watching television shows that were created for teenagers, while my husband teases that I’m too old to watch them.

Single mom, Bailey Yates, has had enough of bad boys to last her the next eighteen years. She’s always been a sucker for them, and Jessamine’s ultimate bad boy, Lucas Lawson, is no exception for her. So, when he returns to town, naturally she’s drawn to him. And naturally, she must avoid him at all costs–no matter how attracted she is to him. She’ll give him a job, and keep her distance…until Lucas saves her son from a hit and run.

Finally, Lucas Lawson is a free man. After serving five years in prison for embezzlement, he’s come home to Jessamine to right the wrongs he committed against his friends and family. But, it won’t be easy. For starters, the brother he’s looked up to his entire life wants nothing to do with him, and no one in town trusts Lucas enough to give him a chance to make amends. Until, Bailey Yates gives him a job at her family’s diner.

Bailey gives Lucas a hope for the future he hasn’t allowed himself to feel in years while Lucas melts Bailey’s heart every time he spends time with her son. Could he be the one to put her life back together? But when Lucas is accused of stealing from a local charity, Bailey must decide to support him or realize that some men are too good to be true.

New York Times Bestselling Author, Marquita Valentine, writes sexy heroes that make you swoon and sassy heroines that make you laugh. She’s the author of the bestselling contemporary romance series, Holland Springs, and the new adult romance series, Boys of the South.

Marquita met her husband aka Hot Builder at Sonic when they were in high school. She suggests this location to all of her single friends in search of a good man—and if that doesn’t work, they can console themselves with cheesy tatertots. She lives in North Carolina in a very, very small town with Hot Builder and their two children.

We’re celebrating the release of BEAUTIFUL REDEMPTION by Jamie McGuire!

Title: Beautiful Redemption

Author: Jamie McGuire

Release date: January 26, 2014

SYNOPSIS

If A Maddox boy falls in love, he loves forever. But what if he didn’t love you, first?

No-nonsense Liis Lindy is an agent of the FBI. Deciding she is married only to her job, she breaks off her engagement and transfers from Chicago to the field office in San Diego. She loves her desk. She is committed to her laptop. She dreams of promotions and shaking hands with the director after cracking an impossible case.

Special Agent in Charge Thomas Maddox is arrogant, unforgiving, and ruthless. He is tasked with putting away some of the world’s toughest criminals, and he is one of the best the Bureau has to offer. Though, as many lives as he’s saved, there is one that is beyond his reach. Younger brother Travis is faced with prison time for his involvement in a basement fire that killed dozens of college students, and the media want a conviction. Travis’s only savior is his unusual tie to the mob. In a deal that will spare his brother, Thomas has agreed to recruit Travis into the FBI.

Liis is stubborn, defiant, and yet somehow softens Thomas’s rough edges, making her the perfect agent to accompany him to the ceremony. Posing as a couple, they must travel to Travis & Abby’s beach vow renewal and give him the news, but when the pretending ends, she finds herself wondering if they were pretending at all.

In the second installment of the Maddox Brothers books, experience firsthand the mysterious world of the elusive Thomas Maddox, and how good love can be when you’re not the first, but the last.

“Me,too. I’m … Thomas, by the way,” he said softly. He rolled over and relaxed beside me, his head propped by his hand. Instead of getting dressed, he looked as if he were ready for conversation.

I pressed my lips together. “I’m,” Do it or you’ll just be kicking yourself later. “…emotionally unavailable.”

Jamie McGuire

Jamie McGuire was born in Tulsa, OK. She attended the Northern Oklahoma College, the University of Central Oklahoma, and Autry Technology Center where she graduated with a degree in Radiography.

Jamie paved the way for the New Adult genre with international bestseller, Beautiful Disaster. Her follow-up novel Walking Disaster debuted at #1 on the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists. She has also written apocalyptic thriller Red Hill, a novella titled A Beautiful Wedding, and the Providence series, a young adult paranormal romance trilogy.

Jamie lives on a ranch just outside Enid, OK with husband Jeff and their three children. They share their 30 acres with cattle, six horses, three dogs, and Rooster the cat.

Now he’s back, looking at me like he wants to devour me. And all those feelings I’d turned into anger are brewing into something else, something that terrifies me.

He broke my heart last time.

This time he’ll obliterate it.

“Look at me, Elle,” he says, using the deliciously low demanding voice that once made my toes curl and my eyes roll back, and I have no choice but to tilt my head to give him my attention. “Forget those lame guys you’re dating.

Let me take you out.”

My heart, if possible, spikes further in my chest, overriding all warning of the impending chaos that’s sure to come. I try turning my attention to the poster hanging beside me, but the kissing couple makes me look back at him and the deep green eyes that are burning into mine. My stomach does a flip-flop, the way it always does when he looks at me that way and I try to take my hands back because these feelings are too scary for me to deal with right now, but he holds them tighter, bringing them up to his mouth and kissing the tip of my ring finger. Why did he pick that finger to kiss? I pull harder and he finally lets my hand drop.

“I can’t,” I say, my voice coming out hoarse.

A myriad of emotions flash in his eyes before they settle on determination and I’m forced to take a step back, away from his scent, away from his warmth, and into the cold closet behind me.

“Why not?”

I sigh, finally looking away, back down to his naked feet. “I just can’t.” He knows why not. He shouldn’t ask me that question. “What’s Vic doing, anyway?”

His body moves into mine so quickly that I don’t have time to react to his large hands clutching my arms or his face dropping until we’re nose to nose. I just stare, wide eyed, waiting for his lips to fall over mine, but they don’t. He just looks at me, breathes on me, lets me breathe on him, and he groans. And that fucking groan travels from his body into mine and crawls into the core of me, draping over every fiber inside of me.

“What do you want, Oliver?” I whisper against his lips. “What do you want from me? You want to kiss me? You want to fuck me? You want to come into my life like the hurricane that you are and tear down everything I’ve rebuilt and disappear just as quickly?”

His lips brush slightly against mine, just a breath of a touch as he stands there, crowding me like he’s about to devour me. But he won’t. He never goes in for the kill. He just lures me, casts me, reels me in and pulls away. His hands drop and his face leaves mine with the same quickness and I feel a pang deep inside me that I wish wasn’t there.

“I’m sorry,” he says quietly, shaking his head in a movement that makes his hair sway back and forth. His eyes are soft on mine now and I can almost hear his thoughts: I should have never kissed her. I should have never—

My brows rise in surprise at the apology, though. There are so many things I can say to him, but the sudden defeated look in his eyes keeps my mouth shut. Finally, I exhale and push off the wall, standing in front of him, with enough distance between us that we can’t reach out and touch each other.

“It’s okay just… don’t do it again. The kiss the other day was a mistake…” I stop talking and walk past him, putting my bra away and sorting through my underwear drawer like it has some sort of hidden treasure or something. This time when I feel him come up behind me, I drop my head and exhale. He really needs to stop sneaking up behind me.

“Oli—“ I start and gasp when I feel his lips on the back of my neck, soft and warm. My heart thunders and my hands begin to shake inside the drawer so I close my eyes and focus on breathing. He drops another kiss right beside that spot. I never knew the back of my neck was so sensitive. The feeling sends a ripple of sensation down my arms and through my body.

“It wasn’t a mistake,” he says in a husky whisper that makes my flesh break out in goose bumps. “You’ve never been a mistake. You want me to tell your brother that I want to take you out? Is that what it would take?”

I’m that teenaged girl who has MS. You haven’t met me, but you’ve seen me around. You probably know my sister. We’re twins, and she’s the pretty one. Maybe you’ve heard about my reputation, how much I like to hook up at parties—how easy it is to get me in bed, get what you want, and forget about me after.

Forget what you think you know. I’m leaving that girl behind.

College is all about new beginnings. So from now on—I’m just Cass. And the rest…it isn’t written yet. And no one else gets to write my story for me.

——–

“Tyson Preeter doesn’t do can’t.”

That’s exactly what I want people to think when they see me. I am strong, invincible, confident, intelligent—arrogant. I’m the man who always finds a way around, over and through—until there’s nothing left. Since losing my ability to walk six years ago, I’ve relearned life. I don’t need sympathy. I don’t want charity. And I don’t do love.

It’s better this way, saves my disappointments for me, and me alone, and it saves my strength for everything I want.

But Cass Owens is about to wreck everything. She’s about to steal all of my strength away from me, because she needs it more. She’s about to break all of my rules, and break down all of my walls. She’s about to own me…completely.

I thought I felt foolish about being younger. But that was before I made a floor display of every cliché low-self-esteem brochure printed in the state of Oklahoma. Naturally, the most embarrassing one is in Ty’s hands right now.

“How to Love Yourself So Others Will Too,” Ty reads, flipping the book in his hands and skimming his eyes over the description on the back. I take this opportunity to scoop everything else up in my arms and sit on the floor with my legs crossed, quickly stuffing things back in my bag. “Oh, this is good. Wait, listen to this one…”

He starts to quote a few of the passages, mocking the stereotypical affirmations and examples in the book. I know they’re stupid—and hearing them now, I’m not sure why I picked the book up. But reading it made me feel good an hour or two ago. “Wow, what class is making you read this shit?” he asks, finally putting the book down. His laughter cuts short when he sees me, my eyes buried in my lap.

“It’s not for a class,” I say, looking up long enough to get the book from him. “My stuff’s in the dryer. Just…just knock on my door when it buzzes done.” I leave quickly, clutching my things close to my chest and feeling ridiculous.

I don’t bother to zip my bag up again, instead carrying it all into my room and letting everything spill out into a pile on my bed. I don’t know what made me check all of these things out. It all started with the book Ty was reading, actually. My hands gravitated to it while I was looking through some of the health and wellness books. At first, my attraction was the same as Ty’s—I found the book amusing. But some of those cheesy sayings actually rang true, especially the ones about feeling inferior to siblings and how we use self-deprecating humor as a crutch. Next thing I knew…I had two books, four magazines, and a dozen brochures.

Ty’s knock on my door is soft. I hadn’t shut it all the way when I walked in, so he takes advantage and comes all the way into my room with little warning.

“Dry already?” I ask, doing my best to pretend none of that happened. I pick the pillow up from my lap, laying it over the embarrassing evidence.

“No,” Ty responds, moving closer until he’s at the foot of my bed. Without pause, he slides from his chair to the bed until he’s sitting next to me. He picks up the pillow, and my stomach sinks. His smile is soft as he scoops everything into my bag, and slides it all to the floor, closing the distance between us even more until his hand is suddenly cradling my cheek.

“Just so we’re clear here, I mean this,” he says, pressing his lips softly against mine as his other hand moves to my chin, tilting my mouth toward him. I’ve been kissed by some pretty convincing boys in my life, each one wanting to make me believe something by the way their mouth worked against mine, the way their tongues coaxed their way inside. This one kiss from Ty was like removing a blindfold.

Ginger Scott is a writer and journalist from Peoria, Arizona. She is the author of four young and new adult romances, with her fifth title, This Is Falling, set to release in late August 2014.

Scott has been writing and editing for newspapers, magazines and blogs for more than 15 years. She has told the stories of Olympians, politicians, actors, scientists, cowboys, criminals and towns. For more on her and her work, visit her website at http://www.littlemisswrite.com.

When she’s not writing, the odds are high that she’s somewhere near a baseball diamond, either watching her son field pop flies like Bryce Harper or cheering on her favorite baseball team, the Arizona Diamondbacks. Scott is married to her college sweetheart whom she met at ASU (fork ’em, Devils).